Hello Georgia!

Day 24

Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Eufaula, Alabama to Perry, Georgia
112 miles
4,700 ft. of climbing

Instead of having Georgia on my mind, I now have Georgia under my bike wheels!  Crossed Lake Eufaula to enter Georgia today at mile 4.  Right before we got to the bridge, though, Brian and I got stuck at a railroad crossing as a train passed going about 3 miles per hour.  It was the slowest train I'd ever seen.  Thank heavens it was only 5 cars long (I had plenty of time to count and recount the cars).  After crossing the bridge, we were greeted by some big Georgia rollers - big, tall hills.  By our first rest stop at mile 28, we had over 2,000 feet of climbing.  It was a gorgeous, cool morning, and all of us were fortified by the hearty breakfast of waffles we had (the hotel had a self-serve wafflemaker and our group hit it - hard).  Again, the scenery today was spectacular.  Rode by Plains, Georgia - hometown of President Jimmy Carter.  The mega-rollers continued through mile 80, where we had our lunch stop in Andersonville, in the parking lot of the National Prisoner of War Museum.  We had time to tour the museum.  It was very sobering, but I'm glad I got a chance to see it.  From mile 80, we had the lion's share of our climbing done, and the rest of the ride consisted of mild rollers or flat terrain as we rode through the Georgia plains.  Rode by some beautiful pecan groves and farm fields.  When we arrived at our destination in Perry, Georgia, we had to switch from the Central time zone to Eastern, so we lost an hour.  That's OK, though, because I no longer need that hour to do laundry.  With only two days of riding left, I'm now collecting all my dirty clothes in a plastic bag in my dufffel, which is sure to be declared a toxic waste zone by the time I finish this ride.  I just hope Lon and Susan don't get ticketed for transporting hazardous materials without a permit!

Crossing the Lake Eufaula into Georgia

Me - finishing one of the morning climbs (one-handed!)

Serves as a memorial to all American Prisoners of War